I’ve blogged about
Keith Le Blanc and this album before, but since the The Vinyl Files is all
about the black magic plastic stuff, and the small fact that this record itself
has survived a couple of major vinyl collection culls, then a few more
words won’t matter too much. Keith Le Blanc is
the World’s Best Drummer You’ve Probably Never Heard Of ... yet, if you’ve
listened to any of the Sugar Hill label’s pioneering hip hop of the early 80s
(see Grandmaster Flash), any Tackhead, or any On-U Sound stuff, then the chances
are, you’ve heard Keith Le Blanc ... even if you haven’t heard of him. He’s more than
just a drummer. He’s a label owner, a producer, a programmer, and session
musician extraordinaire. He’s worked with some of the best in the business for nigh
on 40 years.
Le Blanc’s 1986
album, Major Malfunction, which deals with themes relating to that year’s
Challenger (space mission) disaster, is frequently cited as his best solo work,
but Stranger Than Fiction is my own favourite release for the way it best documents
his obsession with sampling and cut-up beats. The album is perhaps
a little dated these days, but back in 1990 and 1991 when I was consuming this
album on a regular basis - more regularly than might have been healthy given its
relatively subversive content and harsh industrial edge - this work was state-of-the-art. Stranger Than
Fiction never made much of an impact in a commercial sense, but there’s a raft
of underground or cult Le Blanc devotees out there, and it’s almost certainly
the only record ever made where you’ll find voice samples of historical figures
as diverse as Albert Einstein and X-rated comedian Lenny Bruce nestling comfortably
alongside each other. (The Vinyl Files
is a short series of posts covering the best items in your blogger’s not very
extensive vinyl collection)
One of many
exceptional politically charged dub albums from Adrian Sherwood’s most
excellent On-U Sound stable of artists, End of The Century Party brings
together a wide and diverse array of talent. From the ex-Sugarhill house band
trio of bassist Doug Wimbish, guitarist Skip “Little Axe” McDonald, and the
beats programmer/multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Keith Le Blanc
(collectively aka Tackhead), to ex-PiLsters Jah Wobble and Keith Levene, to roots
merchants such as the late Bim Sherman and Style Scott’s Dub Syndicate, plus a
host of other label luminaries. Throw in an ex-roofer (allegedly) from Bristol
with a loud hailer voice, one Gary Clail, have Sherwood himself take care of
the mixing and production, and well … you’ve got an irresistibly potent brew.
Who cares that
they decided to celebrate the end of the century a decade or so early?
Clail and Tackhead
had worked together before, most notably on an album called Tackhead Tape Time
(1987), but also when Clail was employed as a ranting/chanting/toasting MC with
a live/touring version of the band. On End of The Century Party however, it’s Clail
who takes centre stage, and this album to some extent acted as the launching
pad for an otherwise sporadic “solo” career which included four more
full-length releases – Emotional Hooligan (1991), Dreamstealers (1993), Keep
The Faith (1995), and Nail It To The Mast (2014). Rumour has it another one is
due in 2019, but I can’t be sure about that.
End of The Century
Party combines helpings of techno, dub, funk, sampling, and spoken word (though
not necessarily rap), with large chunks of social commentary and a set of
highly politicised lyrics. Themes include vegetarianism (on ‘Beef’), corporate
corruption (on ‘Two Thieves And A Liar’ – with specific targets being
Stockbrokers, Accountants, and Lawyers – you decide who’s what), dreaded
privatisation (on ‘Privatise The Air’ – parts 1 and 2), and of course, football
(a particular passion of Sherwood’s as expressed on ‘Leroy Leroy’).
‘Beef’, later
released as a single and given a bpm boost, and also included on Clail’s
Emotional Hooligan album, is probably the best known track for non-On-U Sound
devotees, but the rootsy dub of ‘Two Thieves’ and the quite phenomenal ‘A Man’s
Place On Earth’ are the stand-out moments for me.
If you’re a fan of
Adrian Sherwood and/or Gary Clail and/or Tackhead, or the On-U Sound label
itself, you’ll likely already have this album. If you’re not yet a convert, but
keen to learn what all the fuss was about, then this is a great place to start.
It’s fair to say
that one of my most anticipated album releases of early 2019 is the seventh
instalment in On-U Sound’s Pay It All Back series.
Earlier this
month, some 23 years after the release of the volume six, the label announced a
March 29 release date for the unveiling of a mouth-watering volume seven. Here’s
the blurb from the On-U Sound Bandcamp page (where you can also pre-order, here):
“An 18 track showcase of new Adrian
Sherwood productions featuring previews of several forthcoming On-U releases,
unique mixes, deep cuts, and unreleased tracks from Roots Manuva, Lee “Scratch”
Perry, Coldcut, Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band), Mark Stewart,
Horace Andy and more. The long-awaited latest instalment in the legendary On-U
sampler series that first emerged in 1984. In the classic tradition of the
series the tracks are stitched together with a number of special pirate radio
style segueways, making for a unique journey through the modern world of On-U
Sound! Both vinyl and CD editions come with a fully illustrated and annotated
On-U catalogue, track exclusive to physical formats and is presented in a
gorgeous colour-printed kraft board sleeve.”
The full Pay It
All Back set, volumes one through six, is the only long running compilation
series - on any label - I’ve managed collect in its entirety in the same format
… only on CD, sadly, although I had at least one, if not two, of the early
volumes on vinyl back in the day.
With the first six
volumes having provided an in-depth overview of the label’s first decade, and
nothing since 1996, volume seven is more than just a little overdue.
There have, of
course, been many other Adrian Sherwood and On-U compilation releases during that
period, but the Pay It All Back series remains the most definitive. Up until
1996, at least.
In anticipation of
the forthcoming addition, I’ve compiled a How to Buy On-U Sound (collections)
guide, and although every On-U devotee would add and delete as applicable to
create a completely different set of favourites, the ten releases listed below
all take pride of place in my own collection, roughly in order of preference.
How to Buy On-U
Sound …
15 Years in an
Open Boat (1997)
Although each Pay
It All Back volume comes with its own unique set of charms, 15 Years in an Open
Boat is perhaps the only collection to trump them all, and it currently ranks
as the most comprehensive On-U Sound overview to date, covering off the label’s
first - and surely most important - 15 year period. 29 tracks across two CDs
and/or LPs. As such, we get everything from Prince Far I’s seminal ‘Virgin’ (of
1982), through to Sherwood’s mid-90s work with the likes of Little Axe, Audio
Active, and 2 Badcard. It also ticks boxes for the hugely significant Tackhead
(‘What’s My Mission Now?’), Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry (‘Jungle’), Dub Syndicate (four
tracks), and many others along the way. 15 Years in an Open Boat is an absolute
essential for any self-respecting On-U collector.
Pay It All Back
Volume Three (1991)
My pick of the Pay
It All Back bunch. Just. It opens with Strange Parcels’ ‘Disconnection’ and it doesn’t
relent across 17 FX-drenched Sherwood masterpieces. Perry and Dub Syndicate again
feature, the latter with another three gems, but there’s also arguable career
highpoints on this one for key Sherwood sidekick Gary Clail with ‘False
Leader’, and the much loved Little Annie, aka Annie Anxiety, with ‘I Think of
You’. Naturally there’s some Barmy Army (two tracks), African Head Charge, Mark
Stewart, and the late, always missed, never forgotten, Bim Sherman, who closes
proceedings with ‘Nightmare’. This one is pretty much the equivalent of an On-U
“Who’s Who” of the label’s roster as things stood at the end of its first
decade.
Pay It All Back
Volume Two (1988)
Where it all
started for me, on vinyl, and while the On-U Bandcamp page appears to insist that
Volume Two is short and sweet at just nine tracks in length, the album in hard
copy form (CD) consists of 16 tracks, most showcasing Sherwood’s love of reggae
at the rootsy end of the spectrum; opening with Perry & Dub Syndicate’s
‘Train To Doomsville’, and closing with Dr Pablo’s melodica-driven ‘Red Sea’. Everything
in between is a genuine On-U classic. Highlights include two Bim Sherman
collaborations, with Singers & Players on ‘Run Them Away’, and Dub
Syndicate on ‘Haunting Ground’. Singers & Players back Prince Far I on two
tracks, and Far I’s own, immortal, ‘Bedward The Flying Preacher’ is another obvious
stand-out. There’s two great contributions from African Head Charge, and three
Mark Stewart/Maffia offerings across the second half.
Sherwood At The
Controls Volume 2 1985-1990 (2016)
A recent raiding
of the On-U archives from just a couple of years back. I thought the most
important aspect of the two recent Sherwood At The Controls releases - will
there be more in this series? - was the way each one highlighted the label’s evolution
from its earliest post-punk roots, and this volume serves to showcase
Sherwood’s early forays into a fledgling form of industrial EDM with tracks
from the likes of Mark Stewart (with ‘Hypnotized 12 Mix’), Tackhead (‘Mind at
the End of the Tether’), Keith Le Blanc (‘These Sounds’), Ministry (‘All Day
Remix’), and KMFDM (‘Don’t Blow Your Top’). But the dub/reggae staples - Perry,
Dub Syndicate, Sherman, and AHC - also feature prominently enough, and At The
Controls Volume 2 at its best presents a hybrid mix of all of the genres Sherwood
found himself tinkering with across the late 80s. Which means this one is
perhaps the most eclectic of all the albums featured on this list.
Pay It All Back
Volume Four (1993)
The importance to
Sherwood and On-U Sound over the years of key individuals like bassist Doug
Wimbish and guitarist Skip McDonald can never be overstated, and their
omnipresence is the most immediately obvious thing about the material found on
Volume Four: collectively, individually, or as key members of Strange Parcels -
effectively Tackhead in disguise - with that collective contributing five out
of the 14 tracks on offer. Elsewhere, we get McDonald, aka Little Axe, in a
“solo” guise with ‘Hammerhead’, and in partnership with Wimbish on ‘Stop The
Clock Part 2’ ... all of that before we even start on the duo’s involvement
with various other On-U projects - see Barmy Army, Dub Syndicate etc. And
McDonald is credited with co-production on ten tracks here. Curiously enough
though, my choice cut from Volume Four has to be the Norman Grant-produced
Twinkle Brothers dub-with-strings extravaganza that is ‘Don’t Betray Me’. A
shout out, also, to the mournful social commentary of Jalal’s ‘Mankind’.
On-U Sound - Dub
Xperience: The Dread Operators (1996)
Given that it was
released on Cleopatra Records, and includes material lifted from the Cherry Red
imprint, pesky purists might insist this one’s not authentic to the On-U label,
but one quick glance at the track-list should be enough to quell the concern of
any sceptic; things don’t get much more early On-U Sound than Creation Rebel - Eskimo
Fox, Style Scott, Sherwood, et al - with five tracks, including two co-credits with
New Age Steppers, or Singers & Players, with four tracks, including ‘Autobiography
(Dread Operator)’, which serves as an opener and title track. Prince Far I
features with ‘Quante Jubila’, and Voice of Authority, effectively Sherwood
himself, is there with ‘Middle East Power Station’. However you wish to frame
it, Dub Xperience: The Dread Operators, is pure foundation-era On-U Sound, and
a few years after its release as a standalone document, compiler Matt Green saw
fit to include it as one third of a wider On-U Sound box set, also released on
Cleopatra.
Pay It All Back
Volume One (1985)
The first release
in the Pay It All Back series, yet one I was forced to work my way back to
after buying all the rest, given its relatively rare status for the decade or
so after its release (here in New Zealand, pre-internet, at least). A couple of
tracks featuring here would resurface again on Volume Two - it probably depends
on what release/version/format is being discussed - but obviously Volume One was
crucial in that it meticulously covered off the label’s earliest output. Which
means it contains some of Sherwood’s most rudimentary and experimental
production work. The sort of stuff fans of the label would later come to know
(and love) as easily identifiable signature moments - his explorative use of space,
echo FX, and sampling, being at its most raw and cutting edge during this
phase. Highlights include Dub Syndicate’s ‘Must Be Dreaming’, and African Head
Charge’s ‘Timbuktu Express’, but there’s state-of-the-art work too from Singers
& Players, New Age Steppers, and Mark Stewart’s Maffia.
Sherwood At The
Controls Volume 1 1979-1984 (2015)
At The Controls
Volume 1 was all about excavating some of the super early Sherwood stuff that
might otherwise have been forgotten about. Again, as with the template or
formula explored further on Volume 2, it brings into sharp focus Sherwood’s
links with punk, new wave, and post-punk; bands like The Fall (with ‘Middle
Mass’), The Slits (‘Man Next Door’), and Shriekback (‘Mistah Linn He Dead’)
take pride of place, all blending seamlessly with the obligatory portions of
dub on offer here - see work offered by the usual suspects, Prince Far I,
Singers & Players, and African Head Charge. Naturally, Mark Stewart’s
seminal ‘Learning to Cope with Cowardice’ is right at home, and Vivien
Goldman’s album closer, ‘Private Armies Dub’, will doubtlessly be of some interest
to trainspotter types. For my money, this one is not quite as listenable as
Volume 2, but it’s a hugely important document all the same.
Pay It All Back
Volume Six (1996)
From a personal
listening/consumer perspective, Volume Six was all too quickly overshadowed by
the release of the more expansive 15 Years in an Open Boat set (see above) the
following year. Had I known at the time that it would be the last Pay It All
Back release for nearly quarter of a century, I might have been inclined to
give it a little more ear/air time and love. I did, however, give Audio
Active’s ‘Paint Your Face Red’, and Bim Sherman’s ‘It Must Be A Dream’, plenty
of long-term love, and although it probably won’t be a universally popular
choice amongst hardcore On-U devotees, I think ‘Japanese Record’ is something
close to the best track Dub Syndicate ever recorded. They’re all highlights
here. At just 12 tracks, in relation to other releases in the series, Volume
Six was a relatively brief offering.
Pay It All Back
Volume Five (1995)
Hmmm. Keen
observers will note the album cover I’ve posted above is rather different to
the more widely recognised/official On-U cover for Volume Five. That’s because,
in order to stay true to my own collection, I’ve posted the Restless Records
(US) version. And while I’ve always been vaguely aware that my Restless Records
Pay It All Back was a black sheep in terms of sleeves, it was only in the
course of writing this blogpost that I became aware of the inconsistencies
within the track-listing for each version … I’m not sure of the issues
surrounding licensing, but the Restless Records release includes 2 Badcard’s
‘Rock To Sleep’ instead of ‘Weed Specialist’, Gary Clail’s ‘Another Hard Man’
instead of ‘One Flesh And Blood’, and Tackhead’s ‘Laws Of Repetition’ rather
than Doug Wimbish’s ‘Life In Arena (version 1)’ … all of that said, this
volume’s highlights come in the form of Dub Syndicate’s ‘Roots Commandment’,
and Bim Sherman’s ‘Can I Be Free (From Crying)’, which are among the ten (of
13) tracks included on both editions.
Of course, this is
a far from complete “how to buy On-U” guide, and with a focus only on
collections or compilation releases, I’ve ignored so many gems within the wider
catalogue - terrific albums released by Perry, Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, Audio
Active, African Head Charge, and Sherwood in a “solo” guise, to name just a few
- but I may yet cover off a few of those in a future blogpost … for now it’s all
about looking forward to Pay It All Back Volume Seven, and an appreciation of just
how we got here in the first place ...
This one isn’t a classic in the mainstream sense, but it does qualify
as something of a cult classic for a certain generation …
Emotional Hooligan is often heralded as Gary Clail’s debut
album, but that fails to take into account a number of projects he’d previously
been involved with as part of the wider On-U Sound collective.
And if we’re
being honest, while Clail may take the credit as “the artist” in this instance,
all those familiar with the work of uber producer Adrian Sherwood will be well
aware of where the real art exists.
This album is an odd beast in that it is essentially the same
set of musicians who recorded the End Of The Century Party album a year or so
prior – at least the core of that collective, with dubmeister Sherwood at the
controls – yet this one was released on the Perfecto label (as opposed to
Sherwood’s On-U Sound vehicle) and curiously enough, this release was far more
successful from a commercial standpoint.
Again, it is Sherwood’s standard template to the fore – dub, roots
reggae, techno, funk, morsels of post-Punk, and Gary Clail “singing” (mostly
ranting) politically relevant lyrics over the bass heavy kaleidoscope of sound.
There’s a dance flavour to most of this work, with techno pioneer Paul
Oakenfold recruited to remix 12” versions of the singles ‘Beef’ and ‘Human
Nature’ (hear Oakenfold's mix in the clip below).
Emotional Hooligan was released around the time of the first
Gulf War and references to the Persian Gulf and Middle East tensions are
sprinkled throughout, George Bush Senior apparently fooling nobody in his quest
for oil and the steps he’d take to get it.
Other issues like poverty, racism, social injustice, and greed
are, as always, tackled head on, without fear nor compromise, and evidently
nobody was safe from scrutiny when it came to this politically savvy bunch.
Outside of the aforementioned singles, both of which are
outstanding, other highlights include the self-explanatory opening track,
‘Food, Clothes and Shelter’, which sets the tone of things to follow, plus
‘Escape’, and ‘Rumours’, while the closer, ‘False Leader’, which features
sampling from a Big Youth track, is my pick of a very consistent set.
This won’t fit the
common definition of what a classic album is, but given that your blogger is a
fully certifiable On-U Sound nutter, what passes for “classic” at everythingsgonegreen
towers, and what counts as a “classic” elsewhere, is always likely to be two
(or more) different things …
The English
Disease is something of a novelty item for those familiar with the bass-heavy
dub sounds of the On-U Sound posse, and it features several of the artists who
produce output for Adrian Sherwood’s legendary label.
The Barmy Army was
effectively the loose collective otherwise known as Tackhead and friends, and
here they combine a couple of their shared passions – sampling and football –
to create a body work unlike anything else heard before or since. It won’t
appeal to all, but it does have some curiosity value, and will be well worth a
listen for anyone who has previously enjoyed Tackhead, Little Axe, Dub
Syndicate, Mark Stewart, or indeed fans of experimental dub or eclectic
lightweight cut-and-paste style hip hop.
When this was
initially released in the immediate aftermath of the Heysel, Bradford, and Hillsborough
tragedies, English football was at its lowest ebb for several generations, and
the game was awash with hooliganism, also labelled the “English disease” by
those oblivious to its widespread international reach. Attendances were low,
safety concerns high, and the family-friendly all-seater environment we see
today was still some way off in the future. The Taylor Report of the early
Nineties and the influx of cash generated by the subscription television boom
of the mid-late Nineties changed the face of English football forever, but
that’s not to say that the “product” offered today is any superior.
What it has
become, in truth, is a far more sterile and palatable “entertainment” option
for the masses. Something has been lost however, and here the Barmy Army
unashamedly celebrate a little of what went before, throwing into the mix a
splattering of politics, terrace-style humour, and a fairly transparent love of
West Ham United.
It’s hard to
define the sound in an orthodox sense, but file this one away under: dub, reggae,
hip hop, or that extraordinary one-off category created especially for this
album: Terrace and voiceover (commentary) samples with some heavy beats holding
it all together. Or something.
Those familiar
with the On-U compilation series Pay It All Back, will already know of the
Barmy Army’s ‘Billy Bonds MBE’, and ‘Blue Moon’ … well, here is some more
material of that nature.
Best tracks:
‘Sharp As A Needle’ (tribute to King Kenny Dalglish), ‘Devo’ (Alan Devonshire),
‘Leroy’s Boots’ (Leroy Rosenior), and ‘Brian Clout’ (Brian Clough).
Apparently all
crowd samples were recorded by the editor of a West Ham fanzine, but check out
the additional credits for this album – it’ll help you recognise just who
you’re dealing with here: Doug Wimbish
(ex-Sugarhill house band, Tackhead, and various), Skip McDonald aka Little Axe
(ex-Sugarhill, Tackhead, and various), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), and Jah Wobble
(PIL). Among many others.
All done under the
watchful and somewhat critical eye of the UK’s foremost master dub producer
himself, Adrian Sherwood.
Recommended for
the open-minded, plus football fans of all clubs and creeds …
It is, of course, a very logical
collaboration – two parts Coldcut, in the form of Matt Black and Jonathan More,
and one part On-U Sound, courtesy of Adrian Sherwood. As producers of some of
the finest electro and dub music to come out of the UK over the course of the
past three decades, these guys are experts in the art of collaboration. They
also know a thing or two about sonic possibilities.
In fact, if you removed the
output of the Ninja Tune label, of which Black and More were founders, and the On-U
Sound imprint (ditto Sherwood) from the rich tapestry of the aforementioned
genres, not to mention the wider dance music and roots reggae scenes, you’d be
left with an awfully big hole. One the size of several giant speaker stacks,
even.
Yet, oddly enough, rather than engage
the Ninja or On-U handles on this occasion, the trio have released Outside the
Echo Chamber on the Ahead Of Our Time label, which previously served as the vehicle
for Black and More’s earliest forays into production.
The collaboration goes well
beyond that of the album’s three key protagonists, naturally. Throw in, just
for starters, uber producer Lee Scratch Perry, onetime Black Uhuru vocalist
Junior Reid, UK hip hop legend Roots Manuva, plus a couple of guys from the industrial
dub heavyweight Tackhead; guitarist Skip McDonald (aka Little Axe) and bass
player Doug Wimbish … and, well, you start to get an outline sketch of just
what Outside the Echo Chamber is all about.
Look out also for the
contributions from the comparatively low profile, or youthful, likes of
Chezidek, Toddla T, Ce’Cile, Elan, and Rholin X (phew!).
There’s also a brief but
nonetheless fascinating excursion into what I can only describe as
Bollywood-soul, in the form of ‘Kajra Mohobbat Wala’, courtesy of Hamsika Iyer,
the tune being an update of an old Hindu/Urdu love song.
We end up with 16 tracks in
total; ten core tracks, plus six dub versions. The highlights of which include
the distinctly political roots-drenched Perry/Reid/Elan offering ‘Divide and
Rule’, the Roots Manuva-narrated opener, ‘Vitals’, and ‘Metro’, which, rather
unusually, skirts around the outer limits of synthpop.
See also: genre-bending, hybrid
flavours, immaculate production, all manner of special FX, bottom end, and echo
… sugar, spice, and all things nice.
The bottom line is you’ll be
hard pressed to find another album released in 2017 with as much emphasis on hybrid
dub or big fat slabs of beefy bass.
The whole thing is really quite
wonderful.
But, as a longstanding fan of
the walks-on-water Adrian Sherwood, and as a long-distance admirer* of the
Coldcut boys – I probably would say that, wouldn’t I?
* I don’t have a huge amount of
Coldcut work in my collection, but I do have the early Sherwood edit of their ‘Stop
This Crazy Thing’ from nearly 30 years ago. And as a certified hip hop-sceptic,
I’ll stop short of suggesting that the Coldcut remix of that early masterclass
example of rhyme and flow, Eric B and Rakim’s ‘Paid In Full’, is one of the
greatest 12-inch singles ever made. But, between us, it just bloody well might
be …
I ordered the CD/T-shirt bundle for this release as long ago as March (a
pre-order for a June release), so my excitement when the package turned up in
my letterbox last week was palpable. I may be a grizzled middle-aged man, but
my inherent ability to revert back to "kid in a sweet shop" mode
right on cue really is quite remarkable at times.
Of course, that's really just another way of saying that anyone hoping
for a balanced or objective review of the latest On-U Sound compilation release
will probably be best served going to another site. The second volume of Adrian Sherwood's At The Controls series showcases
a selection of the On-U label's extensive archives from the period 1985 to
1990. It's a follow-up to last year's impressive first instalment, which
featured producer/label guru Sherwood's work from 1979 to 1984. More generally
this release covers what was arguably Sherwood's most productive period, and
highlights the man's uncanny ability to sprinkle fairy dust across a variety of
different musical genres.
As such, hard-edged industrial post-punk electronica from the likes of
Mark Stewart ('Hypnotised' 12-inch) and KMFDM ('Don't Blow Your Top') sits
comfortably alongside the heavy funk beats of Tackhead ('Mind At The End Of The
Tether') and Doug Wimbish & Fats Comet ('Don't Forget That Beat').
Naturally there's the obligatory helping of dub (roots/reggae and
electro) with tunes from Lee Perry ('Music & Science Madness'), Bim Sherman
(a stripped back dub version of 'Haunting Ground'), African Head Charge ('Hold
Some'), plus a couple of tracks from label stalwarts Dub Syndicate ... although
one of those is little more than a short interlude, effectively paying tribute
to label legend Style Scott, R.I.P.
Other highlights include the so-very-Eighties politically-charged early
hip hop of The Beatnigs with 'Television' ("it's the drug of the
nation"), which features a pre-Spearhead Michael Franti. There’s a genuine
synthpop relic from pre-hard industrial era (read: pre-heroin) Ministry with
'All Day', and Pankow's completely bent but still wonderful take on Prince's
'Girls And Boys'.
Contributions from Tackhead drummer and frequent co-conspirator Keith Le
Blanc, ex-anarcho-punks Flux, Afro-German outfit The Unknown Cases, plus the otherwise
little known Italians, Rinf, take the track-listing up to a generous 16 cuts in
total - or just over 72 minutes of listening pleasure all up.
And yet, despite the wide variety of artists and styles merged together
for this compilation - as with the first volume - nothing feels out of place. Every
track is drenched in Sherwood signature moments - be it his absolute
understanding and mastery of space through the use of echo FX or reverb, be it
the careful placement of a politically-motivated sample or three, or be it some
other odd sound-shape or subtle bass drop just when it's least expected. This
is Sherwood at the controls, as uncompromising as always, and operating at
something of a career peak.
Finally, the quality of the liner notes - not always an On-U label
strength - was a nice surprise. The CD release comes with a booklet containing
a very comprehensive set of notes, which provide some of the best commentary
I've yet read about this remarkable label. There's a good selection of rarely
seen photos - including one of a young Sherwood, with hair.
Oh, and I love the Tee, black with the album cover design, even if it is
somewhat tighter fitting than I had anticipated it would be … three months clearly
being an unruly length of time in the life of your blogger's ever expanding
waistline.
I can hardly wait for the next volume already. Make mine an XL.
Here’s Tackhead’s ‘Mind at The End of The Tether’ ...
A variation on a
recent theme; an unexpected new release from an unlikely source, via an unusual
route, in a very limited format. Out today, a brand new single/“EP” from industrial funk giants
Tackhead, ‘What A Wonderful World’, a digital release only, available
on iTunes. Grab your copy (click link below) and
check out the video clip …
Okay, time for the
annual EGG awards, aka “the Eggs” … or more simply, a list of your blogger’s
favourite (read: most listened to) albums of 2014 …
10. Todd Terje – It's
Album Time
It might well have been
album time, but it was also about time. Norwegian producer Todd Terje has been
relatively prolific as a remixer for other artists over the past few years, but
this time it was finally all about him and he came up with a cracker. It's
Album Time was an absorbing mix of tracks that had been out for a while in one
form or another ('Strandbar', 'Inspector Norse') and newer previously
unreleased material. It was also an almost perfect hybrid of state-of-the-art
technology and old school dance vibes, with disco rhythms grinding hard up
against softcore techno beats – all set to Terje's trademark electronic pulse.
Bryan Ferry made a cameo appearance and gave us one of the album's surprise
gems with his take on Robert Palmer's 'Johnny And Mary'. The album may have
been a long time coming, but it was well worth the wait.
9. Al Dobson Jr – Sounds
from the Village Volume 1
To be honest I probably
wouldn't have known too much about this one if an old friend (connected with
the artist and label) hadn't sent me a Bandcamp download code. Although some of
the shorter sketches barely qualify as tunes, when consumed as a whole, the album
was never anything less than a warm and seriously infectious listening
experience. My original review can be found here.
8. Jack White –
Lazeretto
Another year, another
Jack White album, and while he appears to have overstayed his welcome in some
quarters, I remain a fan. In fact I've got a theory about why I love Jack so
much: for years I cursed that genre loosely defined as "classic rock"
– it was just music for those who relied only on FM radio for their daily music
fix and it wasn’t for me. In any form. Ever. Then along came Jack White –
unconventional (White Stripes), raw (Dead Weather), challenging (Raconteurs),
and farking loud (everything). A basket to place all those classic rock eggs
I'd been denying myself (but had subconsciously, secretly even, started to
appreciate). And so now that I'm at an age where the guilt has been removed
from the notion of "guilty pleasures", I can just fully indulge in
the music of Jack White without fear. Because White is nothing if not old
school classic rock, and Lazeretto is merely the latest quite brilliant
manifestation of that. Even though I know it's all been done before, there's no
overkill here, and this shit still sounds relatively fresh to me.
7. Ha the Unclear –
Bacterium, Look At Your Motor Go
Dunedin and/or sometime
Auckland-based band Ha the Unclear is one of the few bands I missed at the
Galatos showcase gig back in September … more fool me. And although I only
picked up a copy of this album in early December, it's been given a good old
fashioned thrashing across the past month – so much so I just had to include it
as one of the most instantly loved albums of my year. To call the album
“quirky” and quintessential Kiwi pop feels like an injustice to a work that’s
so much more than that, yet for me those (admittedly lazy) descriptions somehow
best nail the most immediate appeal of Bacterium, Look At Your Motor Go. I
think vocalist Michael Cathro’s strong local accent only enhances that sense of
Nu Zild-ness, because for the most part the album’s lyrical themes are
universal, if somewhat odd and peculiar, and not at all exclusive to this part
of the world – from religious ritual (‘Apostate’) to old age and regret (‘85’).
But it’s when the perspective is expanded to include that of a coffee table
reflecting upon its relationship with its owner (on ‘Secret Lives of
Furniture’) that the narrative truly astounds … all set against a series of
triumphant jangly/harmony pop tunes.
6. The Nomad – 7
7 was one of those
albums that just kept getting better and better each time I heard it. Which was
often. I got the chance to interview and profile Daimon Schwalger (aka The
Nomad) for NZ Musician mag and I think what separates him from the vast
majority of electronic producers is that he bears none of the stereotypical
dance music snobbery you often tend to encounter with many DJ/producers. He is,
in fact, a music lover first and foremost. It's something that shines through
on all of his work, never more so than on 7, an album rich with the sort of
cross-genre pollination we've come to expect from him. Co-conspirators on 7
included Jamaican up-and-comer Dexta Malawi, Melbourne-based grime merchant MC
Lotek, talented newcomer (vocalist) Christina Roberts, Israel Starr, and past
collaborators like Caroline Agostini, King Kapisi, and Oakley Grenell. Plus
others. A line-up that pretty much speaks for itself. The album release party
at Wellington's Boat Cafe in September – part of a NZ-wide tour – turned out to
be one of the best nights out I had all year.
5. Tackhead – For The
Love of Money
Some will just as likely
write this one off as little more than just another covers album from a band struggling
for any degree of 2014 relevance. I pity those people, for they know not what
they miss. My original review is here.
4. Radikal Guru –
Subconscious
Radikal Guru is a
longtime everythingsgonegreen favourite and Subconscious was a more than worthy
(late 2013) bass heavy follow-up to The Rootsteppa album, which topped this
list in 2011. My review is here.
3. Sun Kil Moon – Benji
It's a simple enough
formula: man, guitar, stripped back folk rock, and a lyric sheet full of
compelling lyrics. Mix deathly themes with no little amount of personal
tragedy, and you get the wholly unique yet nonetheless unsettling Benji.
Original review here.
2. The War On Drugs –
Lost In The Dream
I'm sure I must have
played Lost In The Dream more times than any other album during 2014. It
probably helped that its smooth lines and nostalgia-friendly grooves were so
workplace compliant ... my original review is here.
1. Robert Plant (&
The Sensational Space Shifters) – Lullaby and The Ceaseless Roar
Harking back to that
classic rock thing again, it turns out my favourite album of the year was made
by a 66-year-old man whose music I could barely bring myself to listen to 30
years ago. But as much as I avoided Led Zep (where possible) during my teenage
years, I've also grown to love the solo career of its key protagonist. Across
the past decade particularly – from 2005's Mighty Rearranger to 2010's Band of
Joy, and all collaborations in between – the music of Robert Plant has been
nothing less than a revelation. And as much as that has given me a different
and far more positive perspective on the band that made his name, Plant's
latest work bears little resemblance to that of Zep. In fact, given the
eclectic nature of Lullaby, it's practically impossible to burden it with any
label – there's fiery Celtic rock, soft acoustic tones, some bluegrass, and a
smattering of unrepentant edgy Americana. The critical element to all of it
though is Plant's unmistakable vocal, which just keeps getting better with age.
Another great body of work to add to an already incomparable legacy.
Best reissue of 2014: it
is impossible to go past the deluxe version of Nightclubbing, the 1981 Grace
Jones classic. Aside from the original full length album you get five
additional mixes of 'Pull Up To The Bumper' – including a particularly early
version produced under the working title of 'Peanut Butter', which was credited
to the Compass Point Allstars as a nod to the incredible studio line-up who
worked alongside Jones at the legendary Bahamas-based studio. There are also
alternative mixes for key album tracks like 'Use Me' and 'Demolition Man', but
the other truly interesting artefact here is the cover of Gary Numan’s 'Me, I
Disconnect From You'.
Best compilation of
2014: given the attention to detail I paid when diligently reviewing all four
volumes of Hyperdub’s 10 series, I can’t really go past that little lot when it
comes to ‘various artists’-type releases. With 101 tracks over the course of
nearly seven hours it was as comprehensive as these types of retrospectives can
be. A great collection from a seminal bass music label.
2014 was a year I finally
got to listen to more Kiwi music. Something I’ve wanted to do for many a year,
without really following through. Although The Nomad album shaded the Ha the
Unclear release for my New Zealand album of the year, I could just as easily
have selected a handful of local releases for the blog's ten albums of the
year. That includes work from Jakob, Vorn, and Darren Watson.
Other thoughts: despite
criticism elsewhere and a general shrug regarding the Pink Floyd finale, I
thought the bulk of The Endless River represented a fairly decent album of
previously shelved material. I also thought regular blog favourites like The
Raveonettes and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart made good albums in 2014, even
though neither scaled the heights of previous work. Thom Yorke’s latest solo
effort also had its moments.
Flops of the year: U2’s
spam effort, whatever the hell it was called. The Sinead O’Connor album was
very ordinary and something of a generic plod-rock release with few redeeming
features (and I say that as a Sinead fan). And naturally enough the Smashing
Pumpkins (aka Billy Corgan) threw up another very disappointing effort, one
that landed itself in the recycling bin after just one listen.
So there it is, the
obligatory annual list posted for another year … here’s Grace doing Gary Numan:
This year also saw the
return of industrial funk supergroup Tackhead. In 2014 terms, that meant a new
album, For The Love of Money, and bunch of senior statesmen doing what they do
best, what they love … keeping it simple, with no pretensions about reinventing
the wheel.
For The Love of Money was
to all intents and purposes a covers album, with new versions of past work
included, but it also proved to be an exceptional piece of work from perhaps
the most underrated group of my lifetime.
The title track is no
less relevant today than it was all those years ago when the O’Jays first
released it, aided unquestionably by Tackhead’s spectacularly unique take on it
…
It’s
been a long time coming but finally it’s here. Back in 2011, Tackhead released
a dub version/cover of Bob Marley’s ‘Exodus’ with the promise that the track
was a teaser for a new album – the band’s first studio album for more than two
decades. Some early reports suggested the new album would see the light of day
sometime in 2012, which then became 2013, then “late 2013”…
Finally,
a couple of weeks into 2014, it’s here, and For The Love of Money doesn’t
disappoint. Nearly a quarter of a century on from the group’s heyday, Tackhead
is back, covering a diverse range of material from the likes of Stevie Wonder
(‘Higher Ground’), David Bowie (‘I’m Afraid of Americans’), Lou Reed (‘Walk On
The Wild Side’), and James Brown (‘Funky President’). There’s the O’Jays’ title
track, Marley’s ‘Exodus’, a phenomenal re-working of the band’s own ‘Stealing’,
and a whole lot more. If you pick up the extended 23-track version of the
album, as opposed to the standard 15-track release, you’ll also get the
funkiest Beatles cover you’re ever going to hear, plus a whole raft of
alternative mixes of various tracks from a roll call of producers including
Adrian Sherwood.
Tackhead
has always been a strange beast and something of an acquired taste. Acquired,
as in you had to go out there and discover the band’s music for yourself. It’s
never been commercial radio fare, the collective has remained very much
underground, and four studio albums across 30-odd years tells its own story. Formed
from the core of the Sugarhill label’s original in-house studio band – bassist
Doug Wimbish, guitarist Skip McDonald, and drummer Keith Le Blanc – Tackhead
has often operated incognito or via another name (see Strange Parcels, Fats
Comet, The Maffia) and has rarely been given the credit or wider profile it
deserves.
It’s
easy to forget that without these guys, Hip hop legends like Grandmaster Flash
(at Sugarhill) or Afrika Bambaataa (at Tommy Boy) might never have altered the
course of popular music as we knew it. Certainly it is difficult to see how
‘The Message’ or ‘White Lines’ could have been anything near the crossover
successes they became had it not been for the contributions of Wimbish,
McDonald, and Le Blanc. Throw in vocalist and long-time Rolling Stones session
man, Bernard Fowler, and UK dub guru Sherwood, and you start to really
appreciate the full range of talent and experience this band brings to the
studio ... and to this album.
There
might be an argument that For The Love of Money is just another album of cover
versions, but I think that partly misses the point. These aren’t just any old
cover versions – they’re very specific classic tracks, carefully selected for
their funk content, their political relevance, for what they mean to a very
special group of musicians. Besides, in most cases the songs have been given
complete makeovers. And if they’ve not been given a complete makeover then at
the very least they’ve been brought right up to date.
‘Stealing’
– originally found on the Friendly as a Hand Grenade album – is a genuine
stand-out on this, the cut-up corrupt preacher samples giving it an edge and a
cynicism not fully realised or immediately obvious on the original. It’s a
brief return to the industrial-strength Hip hop of yore, and a reminder that for
Tackhead, technology works, technology delivers …
And
nobody is safe when Tackhead take aim – political figures, bankers, the clergy
and religion in general, the media ... US
foreign policy gets a fair old bashing. It’s sample heavy – a lot of Obama etc;
it asks all the hard questions, it’s very politically savvy, it’s a form of
modern day blues, whatever the hell that is anymore … but chances are you’ll be
too busy being seduced by Wimbish basslines to really care one way or the other
about the issues.
So
no “new” material as such, but a lot of new Tackhead to get your ear-buds into
... and when a band is this professional, this good, this funky, well, there’s
not much point trying to resist. If there’s a feeling that Tackhead has
softened since that late Eighties peak, a notion that they’re much older and
far more mellow in late middle age, then it comes only because this album feels
far less “industrial” than a lot of earlier material. There’s less grind and
riffage in McDonald’s signature guitar this time out, but the blues element
remains strong, and the funk is never less than front and centre.
Sherwood
is obviously a key man in terms of production, but from all accounts Le Blanc
had a much bigger role on this. Dubvisionist features, while Gary Clail
offers up a deft hand on James Brown’s ‘Funky President’.
I
picked up the Dude label’s 23-track download on Juno, which gave me a whopping
107 minutes of listening pleasure ... but just go and buy it in whatever form
you can. As first album purchases of the year go, this one’s as good as they
get.
